Some thoughts on "Syriana", climate change, and our current situation.

[trof]

First, see "Syriana". The multiple plot lines are a bit difficult to follow, but, like the tentacles of an octopus, all lead back to the same place of origin. It may be a rude awakening for a few, but for most of us here I suspect it will elicit thoughts of 'suspicions confirmed' or 'yeah, interesting, but I already knew that was going on.'

Some years ago both global warming (or 'global climate change' as a more accurate description) and peak oil were dismissed by many. Now both are pretty much accepted as fact by almost everyone but a few diehards who are unwilling/unable to accept the evidence. And the two are as intertwined and co-dependent as Romeo and Juliet.

Almost 30 years ago President Jimmy Carter established the Department of Energy as a cabinet agency. James R. Schlessinger was the first Secretary of Energy. The main goal was conservation of currently available energy (oil, coal, natural gas, hydro, nuclear) and the development of renewable alternative sources of power like solar, wind, geothermal, etc. The disposal of the toxic byproducts from nuclear power plants also came under DOE.

Since Carter left office, the DOE has degenerated and become a vehicle for deregulation of the oil, coal, and gas industries. It still ostensibly oversees the disposal of nuclear waste. It no longer promotes energy conservation to any effective or meaningful degree.

So, here we are 30 years later. We are now even more dependent on oil than we were in the 70s and most of what we burn comes from outside of our borders. More and more of that from areas of 'unrest'.

And we, our government and military, now consider oil to be a 'strategic' materiel:
"Material required for essential uses in a war emergency, the procurement of which in adequate quantity, quality, or time, is sufficiently uncertain, for any reason, to require prior provision of the supply thereof."
Note: By definition it's not a 'nice to have', or 'inconvenient to do without' thing. It is "REQUIRED for ESSENTIAL uses". Period.
We cannot run HumVees, or tanks, or fighters, or bombers, or tankers, or transports, or ships, or submarines, or ANYTHING without it. Without it we can't even get troops from Point A. to Point B., much less support them in the field.
I won't address the civilian/industrial side of the equation here. You can take that to it's inevitable conclusion.

My point is that now our government has put itself in the position outlined in "Syriana". We feel justified, in fact we feel 'must' do anything...anything we have to do in order to get as much of this finite resource as soon as we can. It doesn't matter whether it's 'ours' or not. We must have it and we will get it. If that means hostile action, war, invasion, then so be it. As long as whoever has it is militarily weaker than we are, we will take it. The days of worrying about world opinion are long past. We don't give a damn about what others think about us as long as we get the oil. That is now our sole bottom line. Get. The. Oil.

I'm 65 years old and never before thought that I had a 'calling' in life. I just wanted as pleasant and comfortable a life, here and now, as possible for me and mine.
Well, that's changed. Maybe it's not a calling, just a new, deep sense of obligation. In whatever few years I may have left I will do what I can to the change the situation and circumstances. I will conserve energy and encourage others to. I will use whatever alternative energy sources I can afford and encourage others to. I will encourage our government on all levels to do likewise plus spend significant funds, my tax dollars, to support the research to better develop renewable, clean sources of energy.

Back in the bad ol' Viet Nam and Civil Rights days there were a couple of slogans that gained popularity.
Walt Kelly's Pogo Possum said "We have seen the enemy, and he is us."
And, credited to Buell Gallagher, president of CCNY in 1964, "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."
Both of these are even more true now than they were then.

End of speech.
Thank you.

[Javaman]

1. The U.S. military is the largest single user of oil in the U.S.

the airforce alone accounts for 70-80% of the fuel budget.

the time it takes for a f-18 to travel from nose to tail burns 1 gallon of fuel.

The war in Iraq is about many things, mostly money. but it's money from oil.

but what runs on oil? the military. It becomes circular logic after a while.

the U.S. needs oil to run the military but in order to get that oil (lacking diplomacy) is, according to morons* world, invade countries. But while invading that country, we burn up oil. So we need to get more.

the military's need for oil is insatiable.

We have indeed entered into an era of perpetual war.

[On the Road]

2. Javaman, Do You Know What Percent of All Domestic Usage

is accounted for by the mililary? Just curious.

[Javaman]

3. Good question, I will find an answer for you....

I'm currently putting together a documentary and pulled the above fact from an article concerning peak oil.

On edit:

currently, the numbers I have are for all domestic usage, so I don't know if that includes the military, but I will continue to check.

At the moment, we import roughly 1.25 million barrels of fuel per day, which translates roughly to 400 million gallons a gas per day.

[trof]

4. Amen and thanks. n/t